Chapter 146: Silently Changing
The weather was gradually getting hot; it seemed summer was almost here. This world, each year is a separate season; four years make four seasons. Therefore, summer is the enemy of farmers; those who use the water element will make a fortune this summer.
Counting the time, they had only been out for a short while, yet it had been a year. The reason for this was that they stayed at Velmoura Castle for too long, waiting for Kazuka and Aoto to solve the challenge, then the four remaining people were also put into challenges; a long time passed before they could solve them. After that was staying at Velmoura Castle for a period of time to train as well as regain strength and flexibility after a long period of not moving.
That is the reason those who train themselves for a long time usually train in hazardous veins, because feeling stronger, they will self-verify by slaying monsters in hazardous veins. If not fighting for too long, it can lead to reflexes, flexibility, control... being eroded and no longer as before.
Again continuing past a country after a journey of almost nothing; it took a whole month to cross this country. They only stopped every two days to feed the Bone Horses and then continued; the Bone Horses were very strong so they could run both fast and durably.
If this pace continued, it would indeed be very slow; if it were what Kazuka thought, it might take years.
Night fell, the moon clear and wind cool. Long strips of black clouds were pushed by the wind, sometimes covering the moon. They had stopped and fed the horses; currently, each person was sitting in a corner of the forest and absorbing energy to become even stronger.
The next morning, they continued... Passing a city, they didn't care and continued.
At an empty patch of ground, the group still continued charging with the carriage pulled by Bone Horses.
Takeshi and Kazuka sat outside; Aoto sat on top of the carriage roof. Takeshi turned back and saw the carriage door wasn't closed, still open a tiny bit; he pulled the door shut and let out a long sigh.
"Haizzz, so boring. These days just stopping to absorb energy until full then pushing it out like compressing water to expand the energy gate. It's about to bore me to death."
Kazuka rested his hand to support his face, his face bored.
"Truly boring; now if a few monsters charged out for me to hit to relieve the boredom, that would be fine."
Aoto sitting above spoke down:
"Having some peace is also relaxing; you guys should also loosen up."
Suddenly, an incredibly large shadow with extreme speed charged in front of the whole group. Kazuka and Takeshi immediately stood up alert, then raised their heads to look, but there was nothing; the shadow had darted past the group extremely fast, causing them to lose the trail and fly behind in just a blink.
Kazuka looked around in confusion: up, down, left, right.
"What was that?"
Takeshi frowned.
"Under attack?"
Aoto sitting on top of the carriage burst out laughing loudly, making Kazuka and Takeshi raise their heads in confusion.
"Hahahahaha..."
Kazuka's face relaxed, but his head did not understand.
"What are you laughing at?"
Takeshi: "Right."
Aoto was still laughing but tried to hold it back.
"That was just a shadow; why are you guys so panicked?"
Takeshi: "But it was too big and fast."
Aoto nodded.
"That's natural."
"It is the Heavenly Spirit Dwelling."
Kazuka: "Heavenly Spirit Dwelling?"
Aoto: "Right, it's an extremely strong creature that usually flies in the sky."
Takeshi and Kazuka sat down to hear Aoto tell the story.
Kazuka: "Tell us."
Aoto smiled.
"In the books of my Elemental race, it was first discovered in my race, but after that, it didn't listen to anyone, resisted everyone, and flew away."
"It is very strong."
Takeshi was curious.
"How strong?"
Aoto shrugged and shook his head.
"Don't know; that time I read a book about it. But then fell asleep and forgot too. Only know that it appeared before the unification and is extremely strong. Just flapping its wings can blow away several nations."
Kazuka and Takeshi clearly showed amazement.
"That strong?"
Aoto nodded.
"No one has dared to hunt it yet."
"Why, I'm not sure either."
"But sometimes you see a place with strong wind, it's because at that time it flapped its wings high up and created strong wind below."
…
Twenty more days passed. The group decided not to go further; going more and they would reach old age. They decided to choose a deserted place to stop. And naturally, a place both deserted enough not to meet anyone and deserted enough so no one would report or detect could only be the forest.
The forest is a very dangerous place; monsters breed incredibly fast; sometimes just reaching the edge of the forest and monsters detect and chase; not to mention the number is very large, so it's hard to control. That is the reason the Yokai Race only intervenes if three nations or more are destroyed by a group of gathered monsters. Yokai here refers to monsters, so this name was given a long time ago, but mostly they are all called monsters, plus the name Yokai Race sounds a bit better.
The whole group was in the forest, happening to see a large rock block that must be as big as four large houses put together.
Takeshi pointed.
"This rock block is just perfect."
Airi nodded.
"Yeah, do it."
Around this rock block, there were many small stones; only grass and a few small sprouts could grow. The large trees couldn't grow because the hard rock here obstructed them. These small stones were like the decoration in some noble gardens; every 1 to 2 spans there was a stone; it looked quite pleasant to the eye.
Takeshi placed his hand on the large rock block and focused, feeling like he was merging with this rock block.
Kazuka stood behind, glancing around.
"Suddenly having a rock block growing here, if someone comes, won't it be easy to detect?"
Airi sighed.
"Naturally we won't make it too obvious; dig deep down below a bit; imagine if some monsters came here and fought, accidentally destroying this boulder is destroying our home."
Kazuka "oh"-ed; he turned to Elyssia and smiled awkwardly, but actually spoke to everyone.
"Is everyone okay? Having to live like this is truly a bit hard for everyone."
Aoto jumped up from behind, his mouth smiling brightly knowing what Kazuka wanted to say next; he understood too. He immediately swung his hand and slapped Kazuka's back with a "slap" sound.
"What are you worrying about?"
After saying that, Aoto ran over to Takeshi's place. In front of Takeshi was a large door and a quite dark space created by Takeshi.
Kazuka, being slapped on the back, had his back turn red from the sting; he reached back and rubbed his back.
"Aaaa... what are you doing?"
Elyssia turned over and smiled; Ayaka also walked over.
Elyssia: "Don't worry, it's just hiding. I also guessed there would be a day like this."
Ayaka looked into the distance.
"Look, we are seeds waiting for rain. This forest is the soil; this difficulty is the challenge. It's time for us to sprout, not to rot."
Airi stood behind Takeshi and Aoto who were peering into the dark gap, their hands creating energy glowing downward; she turned back with a quite surprised face.
"Since when did she start saying things like that?"
Then she smiled.
"Probably growing up makes one different; remember when she just came out of the forest, she was still so bewildered."
Elyssia glanced at Kazuka and smiled. She felt Ayaka saying that was enough, no need to say more; she just went to where everyone was working.
Kazuka stood silently, his face bewildered and full of thought.
"Sprout? Just remembered, initially my purpose was to find friends and become stronger. Now I have everyone by my side; it is also sprouting; what I need now is to protect this young sprout."
"Only by going through this event, if possible, we will reach high."
He suddenly remembered what Aoto said about the "Heavenly Spirit Dwelling"—the ability to destroy several nations with just one wing flap. He smiled lightly.
"Sooner or later I will be stronger; I must reach very high."
No need for grandiosity, no need for a big shock. The thing that drives growth does not lie in how one changes or how much psychological upheaval there is. But once, we only need to stop and reflect, stop to see the peace, to see the good things.
Kazuka indeed changed a lot, but the thing that changed him was everyone. No one was in a rush; precisely because of everyone—each with a personality, a certain calmness. Sometimes he clutched his head when meeting a difficult situation, but then another person would be calmer and remind him. He was still rushed, but everyone, though doing nothing, accidentally created a certain quiet space for him, leading him to the very thing he needed—a silence to think.
Not to mention, in his group of friends, though still childish, their understanding was also at a certain level.
It doesn't matter who you are, but the environment decides who you are.
Kazuka suddenly smiled a happy smile of some indescribable emotion and shouted:
"Everyone? Each of us is a string tied together. Just one string snaps, the whole bundle will scatter. Therefore, take care of your own string, and the string of the person beside you."
"I promise not to let anyone be separated from us..."
Suddenly Kazuka stopped for a moment; it was as if he didn't know which word to use reasonably; he only knew letters, not yet able to access a wide variety of phrases. But because he was in a high emotional flow, he quickly chose a rather funny way:
"We are, a pack of wild beasts..."
After Kazuka spoke, he suddenly stalled; he felt it wasn't right.
"Huh? Not right, it should be free birds, right?"
Everyone in the tunnel suddenly burst out laughing; Kazuka standing above also blushed in embarrassment.
Everyone understood what Kazuka wanted to say; no matter how stupid, they would understand. But below the tunnel, no one looked at each other's faces; everyone's face turned red. Despite the blue light from Aoto's energy glowing strongly, no one dared to look at anyone. They only laughed to break their own awkwardness.
Elyssia covered her mouth and laughed; she felt it was quite interesting and her goodwill toward the group increased further. She originally had no relatives, then suddenly met the group and went along. Gradually becoming closer through conversations, now she felt very comfortable.